Yay for Tigatron! He never showed up in the UK (along with the original Blackarachnia, Grimlock and Wolfang plus a few others from the TM2 assortments). Razorbeast is excellent. I like that he has a similar sillouette to Cybershark. The detailing on him is amazing too.

I've loved him since I found him in 2004. He has more paint on him than any other mass-market deluxe that I can think of.

I'll see your Sharkticon and raise you...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Universe Reptilion

Your move.

In general, it's amazing how much more paint figures had a decade ago than they do now. The Universe line especially, but also Energon and stuff like Alternators.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clay

I still have this one, and still like it. I remember paying roughly $30 on ebay for it around the time of release because the only Target near me didn't stock it.

You say that like it's a lot, but Nemesis Prime goes for $100 or so these days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Clay

Yep! It's weird to think of 2009/2010 as something like "the good ole days", but the amount of top notch stuff delivered then hasn't been matched since. Terradive is among the best of that crop, too. And I liked the trident... he had an aerial mode, a ground-based name, and a marine weapon. He's a triple threat!

In retrospect, those were some of the best days of the brand. Toys like Terradive, Straxus, Battle Blades Prime, etc! Deluxes for only $10, often even in Canada! Boundless enthusiasm for where the line was going! It's sad to think things have turned around so soon.

Don't have those two, but I do have Universe Air Raid and Wind Sheer and I love them! I'll have to take pics of them later on if nobody beats me to it.

Some more:

Universe Fireflight is, uh, unique? He's based on an old Beast Machines Vehicon, painted up like the G1 character, and uh, yeah. That's all I've got. I really liked him when I got him, I think, but he doesn't make much of an impression on me now. The weird arms are a real turn-off.

Classics Astrotrain! I was so damned excited when I got this toy in 2006, because he was the first Classics toy that I saw in person. He was a triplechanger, and he was a G1 character, and exactly the sort of thing that fans had been dreaming of for years. And he was...okayish? His legs are badly designed and his arms don't have the best articulation, but he's a million times better than Octankor or Blitzwing, and easily the second-best Triplechanger mold Hasbro's ever made after Springer/Sandstorm. The toy certainly shows its age, as most of the Classics toys do these days, but it's a good-looking representation of the character for display, if nothing else. I also have a lot of fun switching him from one mode to the other. The quick transformations are enjoyable, and make it easier to overlook the obvious flaws in both the shuttle and train modes.

Prime Soundwave is a gem! The design shouldn't even be physically possible. And even assuming it got made, by all rights it should be a floppy, fragile, ugly mess. Only it's not. It's beautiful, elegantly simple and very show-accurate. The RiD-series Prime toys were very, very hit-or-miss compared to the cool FE ones, but Soundwave is one of the best from either line. His plane mode is believable, his robot mode is lithe and poseable, and his little minion Laserbeak is well-integrated into the overall design. Great toys like this only make me sadder we never got quality figures for half of the main cast.

I have to throw Energon Mirage out there. I really like the color scheme, he's got a cool transformation, and just looks awesome in both modes. Yes, he's a shellformer for his hull, but I actually like the way they dealt with it, kind of a cloak or pseudo-wings. Transformers needs more boats.

Universe Fireflight really does look odd. The Beast Machines figure looks better with its darker colours, but having the whole front of the aircraft as an arm is just...silly.

I miss having lots of paint on Transformers. They just look so much nicer with all the cool detailing picked out. I think thats why the toys from the turn of the century are among my favourites. They just look spot on.

Prime was a frustrating line. You had some real gems in there like Wheeljack, Vehicon, Soundwave, Bulkhead and Starscream and then absolute stinkers like Airachnid and Bumblebee. The engineering was generally of a very impressive standard (except on the Predacons. Ugh). Just a shame paint applications were at a premium. Poor Ratchet looks so bland. Horrible weapon accessories for nearly all of them too.

Energon Mirage! One of those toys I only ever saw in catalogue shots. He never made it to the UK (there was that uncomfortable gap in Energon which saw a lot of stuff just skipped altogether over here), so I am glad to hear he is as awesome as he looked

Never really collected much of the other lines, save some Classics (et al) and the odd Beast Wars figures. None of which are near me, let alone the same State.

Did fiddle around with them during the holidays though, so here's a few.

Classics Cliffjumper: An odd one, I'll admit. As it has been said a few hundred times throughout the internet, the Classic Bumblebee mold is brilliant in its simplicity. It's a fun little design with an intuitive transformation, and a cute alt mode that matches the cute robot form. It's held up well over the years. But for me, I thought it looked striking in red. I dunno, I just prefer it over the yellow deco. A lot of people, I recall, didn't care much for it (mostly because of the silver... errr, splatters? pealing paint? 90's style X-TREME paintjob?), but the red, grey and black in Cliffy's bot mode, it just sings to me.

Classics Mirage: Like the 'Bee mold, a lot of praise has been heaped on this guy. He's the ballerina of the Classics et al line(s), I've heard bandied about. He's fun to fiddle around with, and that transformation... how can I describe it? It's smooth, I guess, just the way everything folds, and flips and extends. Love the aesthetic of the robot mode, too. It conveys a sort of speedster look; it's lithe and kind of elegant.

Universe Hound: It's Universe, right? Again, another popular one. Not much else I can say about Hound that hasn't been said before. He, uh, looks great...? Fun and intuitive transformation, like with Cliffjumper and Mirage but a touch more complex, with some clever engineering tossed in here and there (love the way the legs fold out, how the alt mode's seats become the outer thighs). Hound is a fine example of taking the 1984 aesthetic and updating it, maintaining a sense of continuity between Hound's classic and modern look.

And as a bonus, he comes packed with Ravage, which he really didn't have to.

Now, why the **** haven't we seen this mold reused more often? I keep saying it, but retool the guy into Ironfist, already! It's a near perfect fit.

Prime Knock Out
This mould is slightly unloved by fandom, but I think its pretty darn good. The vehicle mode is ace, this great boxy little muscle car I can instantly picture bombing along the road. The robot mode comes in for a lot of flak for not being like the CGI model and for suffering the same problem as FoC Swindle (i.e. he's a load of sticks with a poncho) , but he carries it off much much better. Love it.

Beast Machines Scavenger
Another slightly unloved mould, no doubt due to its ubiquity and just being plain weird. I like him 'cos he reminds me of the Scutters from Red Dwarf. His plastics are just lush too.

Binaltech Asterisk Alert
This toy got a lot of stick simply because he wasn't Prowl, but I don't care! Its nice to see Red Alert getting some love. Some QC issues slightly hobble the figure, unfortunately. As you can see, his shoulders are a bit loose and prone to slumping down. The breadbasket doesn't clip into the waist properly either.

Generation 2 Optimus Prime
Sexy black trailer. That is all.

TFC Resissue Perceptor
Perceptor was a figure that never made it to the UK and I never knew how empty my life was without him. I love the device-formers from the original line and its a shame that this sort of infiltration aspect of Transformers has been lost over the years (not helped, it has to be said, by the slightly feeble Real Gear robots and bloody Ejector). I also have E-Hobby Magnificus whom I also like, but its Perceptor's cheery colours that win me over. Brilliant.

Good grief. Most of the stuff we're talking about here isn't all that old, is it. Need to add in some more old stuff, quick!

Beast Wars Metals Ravage: Ravage was always one of my favorites back in G1, and I was thrilled when I watched The Agenda. Ravage was back! WooHoo! What do you mean Hasbro isn't making him?!? As you can guess, this kind of bummed me out. The closest we got to Ravage was a recolor of the TM2 Cheetor. I'd already gotten the TM2 Cheetor for reasons I've never been able to figure out(I'm thinking I hit my head), and I wasn't about to get another version of that mold. Fortunately, at that point I had found eBay, and was able to get the Japanese version, which was a recolored and modified TM Cheetor. And he still looks sweet, if a little dusty.

BotCon 2005 Ironhide: Admittedly, I'm biased when it comes to Ironhide, but this mold was originally the Energon figure Tow Line figure, and it was a good one. He's also the only figure who can powerlinx with himself.

Human Alliance Bumblebee: A great representation of Movie 'Bee, and well designed. Although poor Sam has that wonderful dull surprise look.

Human Alliance Barricade: This, though, was the HA figure I wanted. Well, that and Human Alliance Ironhide, but they never made him, sadly. But a good, transformable, looks like the guy in the movie Barricade was what I wanted, and this figure filled that particular want. And the Frenzy figure is just nuts.

DOTM Leader Class Ironhide: They finally give us the Ironhide figure we've wanted since the '07 movie. He's not perfect(arm cannons are a bit undersized, and would it have killed them to get his VA to give the 2 phrases they programmed into him?), but he's still a beautiful rendition of movie Ironhide?

HFTD Ironhide: This was my favorite version of the movie Ironhide mold until the Leader class came out. Yes, he's only a deluxe, but he's great!

As a professional tanuki (I'm a Japanese mythological animal, and a good luck charm), I have an alarm clock built into me somewhere. I also look like a stuffed animal. And you thought your life was tough......

Armada Powerlinx Optimus Prime/Jetfire/Overload: I'm a sucker for combiners and these big, chunky guys make for an impressively sized robot. Plus I have a soft spot for the super cargo train they make in vehicle mode.

Classics Skywarp:I'll list this one version of the Seeker mold over the others because, bluntly, I like it's colors the best.

Energon Battle Ravage: For a basic toy I like him a lot. He's almost never in robot mode as his cat mode is plenty good enough for me.

For something a little more obscure, here's a bunch of Arms Microns which I posted a review of, like a minute ago. I've never touched these guys for the better part of a year. The Bumblebee Micron does find itself a new niche replacing my G1 Crosshairs' missing Targetmaster, but they're otherwise invariably messy and horrible and stickery and lumpy and disappointments all around.

A pair of toys I just got out from display are Prime Bulkhead and the Takara-exclusive Prime Breakdown. Both are wonderful, wonderful Voyager-class toys that look great, is show accurate and generally great all around. Simply perfection. Breakdown is the weaker of the two thanks to his rather static lower arms and having freakin' stickers (though to his credit, Breakdown's stickers hasn't peeled off the way the far newer Arms Microns have). I don't like needlessly praising Takara, since I'm still sore over the idiocy that is the Arms Microns, but Breakdown? Breakdown's awesome and I got him for what amounts to retail price. Ain't nothing better than that.

Another toy I just mucked around is... PCC Chainclaw, I think? I think he's called Chainclaw. The three Power Core Combiners Minicons I own are called Caliburst, Backwind and Chainclaw, but for the love of me I can't remember which is which. This one is the blue one that comes with Icepick (who himself is an awesome thing I'll talk about later), and he transforms from a rather convincing robot into a missile pod thing and into what's basically a Powermaster engine. The missile pod is one of the cooler Targetmaster weapons I've owned, and he's probably one of the few clear plastic transformer toys I actually like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warcry

Classics Astrotrain

Astrotrain's kind of weak around now, and considering the mess that Octane and Blitzwing turned out to be, he's the best Decepticon triple-changer out there. I've had an inordinate fondness of Astrotrain ever since I got him, though. Mine is the Henkei version and as such in my opinion has a superior paintscheme than the predominantly white Hasbro release, and while it's shown its age compared to many newer Classics toys I still am really fond of my space choo-choo.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Notabot

Energon Mirage

Mirage is one of the toys that I've always desired. The Energon toyline might have turned out a bunch of lumpy monstrosities for the Autobots, but they did the Decepticons well and I've always thought that Mirage and Sharkticon are two of the more awesome ones. We need more boat Decepticons dammit!

He's also redecoed as Banzaitron in one of the Botcons, I think, which I thought was cool.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zigzagger

Classics Cliffjumper

Cliffjumper is another one I dug out from the back of the shelves. He's an awesome little toy! I'm not as big a fan of this mould as some of the other redesigns I own, but it's not terrible. The red Bumblebee head always bugged me, but other than that he's a fun little toy. I'm not quite sure just what the jetski accessory is supposed to be in robot mode, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zigzagger

Classics Mirage:

I've personally always loved the Mirage mould! He's another one that I own from the Henkei toyline, and the only one whose chrome is still perfect. Mirage is basically perfect, so much that he has supplanted the ugly blocky mess of a character model. Every single time Mirage shows up in fiction in his original G1 body I do a double-take, since Mirage isn't supposed to be blocky like that, he's supposed to be lithe and sleek and awesome.

Quote:

Originally Posted by zigzagger

Now, why the **** haven't we seen this mold reused more often? I keep saying it, but retool the guy into Ironfist, already! It's a near perfect fit.

I've never actually considered Ironfist for a Hound redeco, but you're absolutely right! Certainly a better fit than the random Swindle that the Club uses for him, and Hound's robot mode can be easily altered to look different -- the position of his wheels, removing the silver bar on the chest... Hound works as Ironfist on so many levels.

Redeco Ravage as Howlback or Glitter or something else and it's bought on sight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Prime Knock Out

I personally didn't hate Knock Out either. He's never going to be remembered for being a ZOMG AWESOME TOY, and the Prime toyline has been famous for realizing stuff that should on paper be impossible -- Soundwave, FE Starscream and FE Bulkhead in particular. Sure, he could stand to be more show-accurate and have more yellow here and there, but Knock Out is not the worst toy I've ever seen and certainly not one I hate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Beast Machines Scavenger

Now let me be honest here and say I would totally buy BM Scavenger, that wacky thing that he is. I've always thought BM fails on all levels for the Maximal toys, but the Vehicons all look awesome or awesomely weird, including Scavenger.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heinrad

Beast Wars Metals Ravage

You lucky SOB! Metals Ravage is one of the crazily awesome things that come out of Takara and is just perfect. I would love to track him down someday.

I don't particularly hate TM2 Ravage because Don Figueroa made him cool in the IDW comics I read at a younger age, but it certainly can't hold a candle to Metals Ravage.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heinrad

HFTD Ironhide: This was my favorite version of the movie Ironhide mold until the Leader class came out. Yes, he's only a deluxe, but he's great!

I've always thought he needed bigger cannons and more paint applications on his legs, but HFTD Ironhide is one of my all-time favourite deluxes. The HFTD movie moulds are awesome, aren't they? Seven years of movie toylines, and the undisputed stars that stand in the middle of my collection are HFTD Ironhide, Battle Blades Bumblebee and Battle Blades Optimus Prime. I don't think any other toy in my Movie collection comes even close to the sheer quality this trio possesses.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunderwave

Classics Skywarp

I own the Classics Seeker mold in Starscream, Thundercracker, Thrust, Dirge and Acid Storm flavours. I really, really want a Skywarp, though!

I miss having lots of paint on Transformers. They just look so much nicer with all the cool detailing picked out. I think thats why the toys from the turn of the century are among my favourites. They just look spot on.

I think toys can work without much paint, but they need to be designed that way. I mean, Generations Springer isn't exactly heavy on the paint, but they mix and match the different plastic colours a lot and that creates a lot of contrast. It's only when toys are molded all (or mostly) in one or two colours that the lack of paint really jumps out at me (case in point, the new Leader Jetfire -- if the toy is 100% white, you can't skimp on the paint apps!).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denyer

Prime Soundwave looks like he's got a spiffing vaudeville cane in that thumbnail.

Now I need to find him a real cane...

Quote:

Originally Posted by Denyer

Kind of hoping for MP Mirage and Hound... find the Classics ones a bit too exaggerated or toony, respectively.

I don't think a hypothetical MP Hound is going to be any less cartoony than the Universe toy, at least not with the current design team. An MP Mirage would be nice, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Beast Machines Scavenger

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Generation 2 Optimus Prime
Sexy black trailer. That is all.

Yes. To the point where every single Optimus Prime picture, toy or screenshot that features the original trailer looks fundamentally wrong to me. I need to track down a new cab for mine one day, though, because mine has been...well-loved, lets say.

I think Universe Starscream is my favourite, personally, though Skywarp is definitely pretty.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thunderwave

Energon Battle Ravage

Me, I'm a fan of both of his modes! It's a shame he was never done up in traditional Ravage colours, though (the Attacktix doesn't count!)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heinrad

Beast Wars Metals Ravage

I hate you for owning this. And I hate BotCon even more for losing the molds after they made Transmetal Tigatron from it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heinrad

BotCon 2005 Ironhide

I do think this is probably the best toy G1 Ironhide has ever gotten. Admittedly, though, the competition isn't all that fierce.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Heinrad

HFTD Ironhide

I refuse to ever transform him again on the grounds that it may drive me to mass murder.

A coherent set from me, this time:

The Universe Minibots were very sought-after at the time, and some of them were very hard to find. My Warpath has moved on (I gave him to my nephew after I got Generations Warpath, who is just a better-executed, bigger version of the same toy). But these four I've kept.

I'm not a big fan of the tiny Legends/Legion size class, to be honest. It's very hard to make a good to for collectors at such a small size (for kids is a different story -- these things are great for kids). The figures usually turn out to either be too simple, leading to simplified, ugly robot modes, or too complex, making them a floppy mess. But Brawn? Brawn is basically perfect. He looks good in both modes (in spite of having his face painted the wrong colour for no apparent reason) and I can absentmindedly transform him in under five seconds without even looking at him. He's a perfect desk/couch toy to fiddle with while most of my attention is on something else. How in the world did he ever get boxed up?

Beachcomber is almost as cool, but his transformation isn't quite as satisfying and the bits of roll cage on his arms have always vexed me. I've never really understood why Mr. Beatnik has a machine gun in vehicle mode, either. But he's a lovely shade of blue and captures the original toy quite well.

I want to like Wheelie but I just can't. The gigantic arms and legs just look off to me. The head mold is satisfyingly cute, though.

And then there's Cosmos. I loved him at the time because Cosmos is my favourite Minibot, but with the new toy coming out this year it really took the bloom off of him. he's got Retrax arms and wonky legs, and he's the wrong colour! The design really needed the extra joints that the larger size class could bring it. He used to be one of the most sought-after little TFs ever, but I don't think many people want him anymore.

I passed on those Universe Minibots. They showed up randomly on clearance in the UK, bypassing main retail. Whilst they looked nifty, I get bored with seeing constant anthropomorphised faces on Autobots. I like that some of the original toys look alien and odd.

RiD Optimus Prime
I don't often play with this guy, and he sometimes feels more of a kit than a Transformer, but when I do get him out, he always impresses. The massive foot long fire truck is superb. The small robot mode is decent and you can add various bits of his 'Super-mode' to beef him up (if you like) and then he turns in that stunning larger robot and has the most fun set of missile launchers! Great toy. Not so keen on the 'Omega Prime' team up mode with RiD Magnus, which feels a bit wibbly and top heavy (because it is).

Beast Wars Transmetal Terrorsaur
Just a great deluxe toy. The 'transport mode' is garbage though - just looks like the pterodactyl mode has crashed into the ground. Really great robot mode and a cool looking alt mode. Colours are great too.

Generations Skullgrin
Not quite the hulking Voyager toy he should have been, but a superior use of the mould that gave us Staxus. Neat transformation and a good update of a pretty forgotten character. More Decepticons, please Hasbro!

Stunticons
A Special Teams merge group I always wanted as these guys just look bad ass and dangerous in alt mode. I like the characters too - they really come across as some sort of dysfunctional terrorist cell lead by an absolute b*st*rd.

I never liked him, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because I thought it was silly to name a toy "Brawn" and then slap zillions of guns on it? He looks pretty cool, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

I passed on those Universe Minibots. They showed up randomly on clearance in the UK, bypassing main retail. Whilst they looked nifty, I get bored with seeing constant anthropomorphised faces on Autobots. I like that some of the original toys look alien and odd.

There's nothing I'd love more than to see toy-accurate heads on toys of Bumblebee or Brawn or Gears, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Generations Skullgrin

Oh yes. I tend to keep Straxus out on display instead, because he's Straxus and how do you not love that? But I actually like Skullgrin a little better. He just looks like a big, hulking barbarian! I sliced off the ends of his pick-axe weapon to make it look more like a barbarian's club, though.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

More Decepticons, please Hasbro!

Agreed! The last few years have been very Autobot-heavy in the Generations line, especially when you discount the multiple Megatrons and Seekers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skyquake87

Reflector

One of the best G1 toys, IMO. Mine didn't survive my childhood, alas.

Still can't wrap my head around why he wasn't released at retail.

Some more from me!

10th Anniversary Waspinator doesn't look like much up against his newer, shinier Generations counterpart, but show accuracy aside he's easily the better toy. He has functioning knees, for one, and his wing articulation isn't crippled by an annoying gimmick. I also love that he's got a head-switching gimmick that actually works, something that most of the early BW toys tried and almost none of them got right (only Waspy and Scorponok pull it off without looking stupid, IMO).

Generations Waspy has displaced him from my main BW shelf just by dint of looking better, but this is a good, solid design. I wouldn't mind picking up Buzz Saw or one of the wacky Fox Kids designs (or, hell, even the BWII remold...Dirgegun?) one day in order to have an example of it that's not been shoved off by an inferior-but-pretty toy, but right now I don't have the room.

Generations Drift was sort of hard to evaluate at the time, because IDW's antagonistic hard sell of the character made him pretty much the most loathed Transformer ever for a brief while. Now that that haze has cleared, though, it's a lot easier to look at the guy with a dispassionate eye. Unfortunately, that eye doesn't really like what it sees. The figure looks like a million bucks in light blue as Blurr, and that makes poor Drift, with his off-white and dried-ketchup red, seem really bland. That makes it harder to overlook the not-so-great articulation. The figure's chunky design gives him a nice, unique silhouette, but it also means he's got about eighty huge bits of car hanging off him at different angles, all wanting to occupy the same space when you transform or pose him. Trying to make him look cool with his swords is not easy, and again he compares poorly to Blurr and his guns.

Also his big sword is so soft that it bends under its own weight if you pose it any way but vertically, which really pisses me off.

Robot Masters Star Saber. Well, okay, bootleg RM Star Saber. But still. Even ignoring the poor-quality bootleg plastics, he's still a laughable piece of crap. No leg articulation? No head articulation? An alt-mode that looks like a folded up robot? He's like an Armada toy without the cool play features. I can't believe this is what passed for a collectors' toy in 2004. I also have a bootleg of Victory Leo hanging around somewhere, but he's even worse. The best thing about spending $8 on these guys? They convinced me not to shell out $80 or whatever for the real thing.

The sad thing is, I like Star Saber. I'd love to have a good, modern toy of him. This isn't it. And I'm certainly not shelling out for the Masterpiece, I don't like him that much. Maybe he'll show up in Generations, one day?

I never liked him, but I'm not sure why. Maybe because I thought it was silly to name a toy "Brawn" and then slap zillions of guns on it?

He only has a pair of chunky handguns and that machinegun in his alternate mode. He does look a fair bit like Brawn in a Movie setting, and the guns look good so I'm never too bothered by him.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warcry

There's nothing I'd love more than to see toy-accurate heads on toys of Bumblebee or Brawn or Gears, but I'm afraid that ship has sailed.

Won't lie, a toy-accurate head on my G1 Bumblebee would go it a long way for me to like him.

[quote=Warcry]Agreed! The last few years have been very Autobot-heavy in the Generations line, especially when you discount the multiple Megatrons and Seekers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warcry

Generations Drift

Maybe it's just me not really loathing his character (I loathe his spotlight issue but otherwise he's not more offensive than a lot of characters out there) and maybe partly because I don't own the far prettier Blurr, but I've always had a soft spot for Drift. Sure, over the years the shoulders that point backwards and the huge chunks of car around his legs do inhibit his transformation, but I've always loved this toy.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Warcry

Robot Masters Star Saber

Mmm, I've never liked Star Saber's design personally. I'm not quite sure why. Maybe it's because he looks too similar to Optimus-Prime-with-wings? Dunno. Still, I don't give two shits either way about his Robotmasters or Masterpiece incarnations.

In honour of this week's big combiner reveal, have some Energon combiners!

These guys have got a lot of flak over the years for, essentially, not being G1 enough. The fact that they were marketed as Aerialbots, Combaticons and Constructicons didn't help, I suspect. But I like them!

At the time I was fairly short on cash, and distribution wasn't very good, so I never really had a chance to build complete combiner teams. But lucky for me, there were only three unique molds per combiner, so I could pick and choose my favourites without missing out too much. I only bought one of the team leaders, since Storm Jet and Steamhammer didn't impress me at all, but I wanted to get one of each of the Scout molds. That didn't quite work out (I didn't like the blue crane in the first wave, so I wanted for the green and black one and he didn't come out here) but I got most of them, and I'm quite happy with my mixed-and-matched set.

Barricade is probably the best modern combiner torso, not that that's an especially difficult feat. He's got a good-looking, well-articulated robot mode, albeit with a huge, mostly-hollow backpack. He looks good as the core of a combiner, and I especially like the unique, not-at-all-G1 head that they gave him. His alt-mode isn't bad either, since it's got a decent amount of play value even if his head is clearly visible from the sides. The biggest knock on him, IMO, is that like the other two combiner team leaders, he came with no accessories of his own.

Kickback (the tank) is probably the weakest of the bunch. His vehicle mode is cool, and I like that he's an anti-aircraft tank rather than a battle tank. Paired up with Barricade's missile launcher, the two of them are nice thematic opposites for the Autobots' combiner -- designed to shoot down planes. But his robot mode is pretty awkward. He's got ski-feet, awkward back kibble and guns hanging off his ears.

Storm Cloud isn't the helicopter guy I wanted originally, but once I realized that the final wave (including the much-prettier purple Blackout) wasn't going to show up, I got this guy instead. But despite my fears, the blaze orange isn't really that bad. The gold and brown counter it nicely. His robot mode is cool, with good articulation, though hampered a little bit by an overly-large chest. His helicopter mode isn't bad either -- though his arms and legs are pretty clearly just hanging off of him, at least some effort is made to make them look like they belong. He's also got the distinction of having the only Energon weapons of the bunch that actually look like weapons.

Sledge suffers a bit from having obvious legs making up the back half of his vehicle mode. His robot mode almost makes up for it, though. He's got good articulation and a good "look", really pulling off the tough-guy construction worker feel that they were going for. The subdued colour scheme is nice too. I also like that he can use his Energon weapon (nominally a fork or something) as a shield, which seems fitting for a construction guy.

Treadshot is one of my favourite Basic/Scout sized guys ever. His vehicle mode is a bit weak, I'll admit, but his robot mode is pretty great. He's got the same basic "Cyberjet" layout that a lot of small TF jets have, but he pulls it off better than most. He's got ball joints everywhere and a good range of motion. I really like his colours, too. There's a few other versions of this mold that look good, but none of them top his black/baby blue/yellow/silver deco.

Sky Shadow (why exactly isn't Treadshot the one with a gun in his foot?) is one of about a zillion A-10 Thunderbolts in the history of the Transformers franchise, but one of the few molds that aren't a reference to Powerglide. His asymmetrical feet and gun-turret head are neat touches, as are having his engines become hands. I quite like him, though it's taken a while for me to come around to appreciating him -- when I first got him, I thought he sucked because he wasn't G1 enough.

Ah, the Energon combiners. So much potential cruelly wasted by compromise and some odd design choices. I do like Sledge, Treadshot (ghastly name) and Blackout. All the rest are pretty horrible.

Some others from me...

TFCC Seacons
Expensive, poor quality control and the world's flimsiest plastics let down what could have been a cracking set. But! The colours man, just look at them! Okay, the grey/ orange combo is a bit wishy washy on Seawing and Nautilator, but the blacks, purples and yellows on everyone else look brilliant. I have also discovered that Piranacon (why do I always think the gestalt is called Piranaking?) is much more stable if you put his legs on back to front. It doesn't look as pretty, but means he's less top heavy and gets rid of that horrible lean that this gestalt always had. Probably not a set I'd ever recommend to anyone, truth be told. The cheaper TRU reissue has much better plastics and is probably what most folk are after from the Seacons.

Transformers Collection / Encore Megatron
I love the original Megatron toy. He's hefty and fragile and dangerous all at the same time. Maybe its the handgun alt mode, but there's something about Megatron that gives me pause. The UK, lacking the right to bear arms, isn't awash with guns so its kind of a weird thing to handle a toy that's based on something used for killing people (or 'defense', if you prefer). I like the TFC reissue for its fun accessories - the Energon Mace etc, but its the Encore version with that bad ass airbrushed artwork and lovely purple box that tickles my nostalgia. Oh yes.

Binaltech Smokescreen (BT08 - 2004 version)
Smokescreen was so good he got another outing in the second year of Binaltech, using a sightly different Subaru Impreza alt mode (I can't tell you the model), which is a little more round looking, has different hubs and has, for me, more of the bounce I associate with rally cars. This version came with one of two race numbers (2 or 8, if IIRC) used by different drivers. The sponsor decals are different from the original and the robot mode looks a wee bit more tubby. Best of all, he comes with a rocket launcher - with launching Missile! Plus the gorgeous sparkly paint, diecast, chrome and rubber one associates with these figures. Put that in your tailpipe and smoke it , MP Cars!

Beast Machines Terrandon
Yeah, he's a comedy jumble of animal parts around the world's stockiest robo dude, but by God he's a lovely thing. The skin texture is amazing, he's done in this lovely rich bronze/brown shimmering tone, has a bunch of cool secondary colours going on in robot mode, excellent detailing and a silly 'dead' mode and a gun he can barely hold, but he is just great and fun and one of my very favourite Transformers toys ever. Makes poor Guiledart look a bit anemic by comparrison.

Alernity Banzaitron
Something of a forgotten line these days, this sequel series to Binaltech took the same basic concept (licensed vehicles, realistic interiors blah blah blah) and shrunk it down to a 1:32 scale. The fiction is just preposterous nonsense, so we'll ignore that. I didn't care for many of the designs (such as there were), but do like my Convoy Super Black. To go with him, I chanced upon this colourful looking bad ass. He's some sort of exclusive or other and is just a straight redeco of the Seekers. Banzaitron isn't the most successful Alternity design - he has some looseness reminiscient of Gobots where plastic parts move against metal - and has some epic proportion problems (his legs are just sooooo long), but I like the glossy paints and that they've taken all that cool Binaltech engineering and squished it into something the size of a regular deluxe toy. The mould works well as Banzaitron and I also like the vehicle mode, just because it looks a big smiley face on wheels.